Toy



[a HORN Filed "April 9, 193a In yeti/or:

Patented ott'ii, 193s PATENT OFFICE Ernst Horn, Nuremberg, Germany Application April 9, 1938, Serial No. 201,148

a In Germany March l, 1938 7 Claims; (01.46-210) This invention relates to toys, and more particularly to toys repres'entingthe automobile trafiic taking place at street-crossings of cities and the mode at supervising and controlling said traillc. I

My present invention relates to an improved and simplified constructionoi the toy described 'and claimed in the U. 8. Patent No. 2,103,447 granted to Ludwig Carl of Nuremberg. Germany.

19 The toy described and claimed in the said patent consists. essentially of a base plate having two streets crossing each other and comprising guidegrooves adapted to guide toy-vehicles travelling therein and stops or pins co-operating with said.

guide-grooves, said stops or pins being adapted to be raised and lowered in pairs within said guidegrooves to stop the travel of said vehicle or to permitiree e thereof, respectively. I

In contra-distinction to the toy described and as claimed in the aforesaid U. s. patent, in which toy an electric lamp supplied with current from a small battery serves to indicate at a time the direction in which a toy vehicle may travel on one oi said streets. while the supply of current for said lamp is controlled by switching means in the form or a control disk, my present invention consists essentially therein that a mechanically adjustable direction indicator is connected with the toy. said indicator being operated or controlled by means of said control disk serving for the control oi said stops or pins in order to adjust said indicator in a position indicating'the street or guide-groove whichat a time is free tor the of a toy vehicle therethrough.

My present invention will represent an improvementin so far as atoywoi thepment kind may be operated without said electrid flsmp and said battery iorming'part oi the-construction according the aforesaid U.'S.patent. The direc- 9 tion indicator forming part of my present invention, in addition, will always be eiiective and in condition may to operate and particularly avoids eventual failure or the electric lamp due 5 to exhaustion oi the battery supplying current thereto mechanically bymeans of said control disk according to my invention. any failure of said electrlclamp orb'atterywillbe positively avoidedby mechanically adjusting said direction indicator vs. by adjusting said direction indicator andthcrowithoi sented an example oi construction of my improved toy.- s

Fig. 1 being a top-view taken on the'basc-plate of the toy, and

Fig. 2 a cross-section along line 1-1 0! Fig.1. 5

Referring more particularly to the drawing. the base-plate I of the toy is provided with two crossing streets, either street comprising a number of guide-grooves I, l and I which partly intersect each other and partly merge one into another. 10 Said streets or guide-grooves may also be connected with each other by switching tongues providcd in depressions .1 For either street there are provided in the base-plate .l injront oi the crossing oppositely positioned stops or pins I. which may be raised and lowered. Said stops or pins 0 are furthermore mounted on resilient tongues I, II which may becom'monlyand positively adjusted in pairs by means of tour oblique suriaces [2 of a control-disk Ii provided with an operating lever or handle ll, ll permitting two oppositely positioned stops or pins lto be raised and lowered at a time. Said stops or pins 8 in raised position will lock the street or guide,-

groove, while in lowered positiom will unlock the second street in guide-groove'which is .directedatanangiewithrespecttosaidiirststreet or guide-groove.

In order to indicate the street or guide-groove statimeunlochcdbysaidstopscrpimtaccordingtomypresentinventionlprovideamechanicallyadiustablediiectionindicatoronthebasc plateloithetomsaidindicatorbeingcontrolled and operatedby meansotsaidcontrol-diskil-in awaytoindicatethestrestorguide-groove whichatatimeisireetcrpa-aleoiatoyottbe ll, thuseilcctingrotatim of said shalt saiddircctionindicatcrthroulh! free to enter the respective street or guide-groove in the direction indicatedby said indicator, while Instead of the segmental arm I! and the gearwheel l8, other operating or motion transmitting means may be employed for imparting a turning to said direction indicator from said control disk ll.

The direction indicatordescribed hereinabove and represented in the drawing in connection with a specific form of tramc toy may also be used in connection with traflic toys of other construc tion without departing from the principles of my present invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

I claim: y

l. A traflic toy of the character described, said toy having'crossing streets consisting of guidegrooves, stopping devices adapted to stop a toy vehicle travelling on one of said streets or guidegrooves at the crossings thereof, control -means for said stopping devices, and a direction indicator co-operative with said control means, said direcdirection of a street or. guide-groove at a time free for passage of said vehicle.

2. A toy as specified by claim 1, said direction indicator located at a crossing of said streets or guide-grooves and mounted detachablyon a rotatable shaft, said shaft being operatively connected with said control means. I

' 3. A toy as specified by claim 1, said direction indicator located at a crossing of said streets or guide-grooves and mounted detachably on a rotatable shaft, and motion transmitting means insuch as a traific control'man, mounted on a rotatable shaft, said shaft being operatively connected with said control means.

'6. A trafilc toy of the character described, said toy having two crossing streets, stopping devices adapted to lock passage of a. toy vehicle through one or the other of said streets, control means for .said stopping devices, and a mechanical direction indicator co-operative. with said control means and adapted'to indicate the street at'a time free for passage of a toy-vehicle therethrough.

' 'ERNSTHORN. 

